Every year grizzly bear families in North America depend for their survival on a spectacular natural event: the return of hundreds of millions of salmon from the Pacific Ocean to the mountain streams where they were born. The salmon travel thousands of miles to spawn and then die. The great run not only provides food for bears, but for killer whales, wolves, bald eagles, and even the forest itself. The question is: will the salmon return in time to keep hungry bears alive? A mother grizzly and her cubs emerge from their den high in snowy Alaskan mountains. Filming from the air the team capture a TV first, following the bears as they negotiate a near vertical slope on their journey to the coast where they await the return of the salmon. Meanwhile, the salmon are making their way to the to river mouths where they must swim upstream and against the current. The programme reveals how they tackle the torrents and leap over waterfalls, a feat equivalent to a human jumping over a house. Dozens of hungry bears eagerly await the salmon that make it up river. In another TV first, underwater cameras record the ingenuity and fancy footwork they use to collect dead salmon from the bottom of deep pools.
An extraordinary journey into the powerful natural forces that shape our planet, this visually stunning documentary series reveals how extreme weather, oceans, landscapes, and atmospheric phenomena combine to create some of Earth’s most spectacular events. Using breathtaking aerial footage and immersive close-up filming, the series brings viewers closer than ever to the beauty, danger, and raw power of nature. In the first two episodes, the documentary explores the spectacular lightning storms of Arizona, the giant waves of Nazaré, the power of storm clouds, hail, downbursts and tornado-like winds, the ocean forces that build monstrous waves, the cloud ‘tablecloth’ over Table Mountain in Cape Town, and the rare circular rainbows at Victoria Falls. It is a journey through extreme weather, dramatic locations and the hidden natural forces that create some of the most spectacular scenes on Earth.
A mother grizzly and her cubs emerge from their den high in snowy Alaskan mountains. Filming from the air the team capture a TV first, following the bears as they negotiate a near vertical slope on their journey to the coast where they await the return of the salmon. Meanwhile, the salmon are making their way to the to river mouths where they must swim upstream and against the current. The programme reveals how they tackle the torrents and leap over waterfalls, a feat equivalent to a human jumping over a house. Dozens of hungry bears eagerly await the salmon that make it up river. In another TV first, underwater cameras record the ingenuity and fancy footwork they use to collect dead salmon from the bottom of deep pools.